Kitchen Garden Forum

OH!

Wow Cambridge! Many congrats to her. What a proud family moment!

Westi

Now I really am jealous!

Just had an e-mail from eldest granddaughter who is in India! Takes my mind off the constant Welsh rain.

They have been staying with acquaintances in Delhi and ended up staying for free in the Golden Temple at Amritsar.
The Indians have been intrigued by the strange pair. Ashanti's middle name is Sharda, which is one of the names of the goddess Saraswati, Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts, wisdom and learning. Her boyfriend is a Glaswegian half-Iraqi.

To make me even more jealous, they are spending another six weeks travelling in India, north and south.

Well they will certainly be getting more sunshine than here.
Raining again so no outdoor work. Good opportunity to make another batch of marmalade! Got to use up the mountain of Sevilles temporarily stored in the garage before the mice come sniffing!

What a couple of lovely photos Alan, you too, must be very proud of your family. Strange how people are different (and just as well) i have never really had the urge to travel the world.....

Primrose wrote:Well they will certainly be getting more sunshine than here.
Raining again so no outdoor work. Good opportunity to make another batch of marmalade! Got to use up the mountain of Sevilles temporarily stored in the garage before the mice come sniffing!

I'm on batch 4 at present. Batches 1 > 3 made over last two days.
Batch 4 currently simmering for a couple of hours so I am popping in and out of the kitchen frequently

Am I the only person who seems to have a problem with capital W's on here

To me capital W's look like they have been typed on an old typewriter with a almost worn out black ribbon

Seems really odd

38 lbs of the stuff made so far. Currently have two batches of Mixed Citrus on the go here. Like a production line. One batch of peel simmering and softening on the hob, a second batch in the microwave. Usually knackered by the time we've finished and we have a Burns Night jolly scheduled for this evening. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time ...!

As long as nothing burns during the day you'll get through.

Never had Seville orange marmalade set so quick, TWO MINUTES after the boil starts

Not quite as much as you Primrose
Batch 4 completed, 25lbs so far.

Batch 5 prepped, then checked sugar stock before starting. Just as well, not enough in stock to complete batches 5 and 6

What,s your magic secret for such a quick set Pa Snip ? That,s incredible ! i'm thinking of the amount of gas saved. Even after adding warmed sugar it still seems to takes ages. Perhaps you are making smaller quantities at a time? We're making ours in a large copper bottomed stainless steel pan so possibly the process takes longer when done in bulk and takes longer to reach the 107.5 setting point.

Primrose I have no idea why, I am following my usual method.
Never had it happen before.
I am using the juice of One lemon, and the pith and pip from the oranges.
I am using jam sugar not preserving, which is what I've always used.

Can only assume one of the fruits has more pectin content than usual

oldherbaceous wrote:I have had some wonderful news, my lovely Niece has just been offered a place at Cambridge university, studying English literature.

We are all very proud of her indeed.

Congratulations to her. Which college? My nephew is at Trinity Hall, niece at St Cats.
I'm sure it will be very demanding.

Hi Primrose
Wrapping the fruits individually, that is dedicated and I am impressed. I have always just tipped them into a drawer and they freeze well. As you say, once defrosted the skins are softer.
There were none at Berkhamsted market but I got some in Cambridge (I'm staying with my sister for the weekend).
So, Sunday night and Monday will be marmalade focused; as well as washing the cars - roads are filthy dirty, probably with lots of gritty rock salt (great for keeping the roads in drivable condition but bad for the car).

Morning Stephen, It's the old part of the university, whatever that part is called.

I'm going to be checking crops very closely this year to see which are most photogenic given that somebody with more money than sense has paid £750,000 for a photograph of a potato !!!


Admittedly it is a good photo but £750,000 !!!!!! come on !!!.